After few posts that targets a certain genre that I do not want to be associated with (yeah, it’s exhausting to say the least), I’ll just head back to the heavier side of the spectrum for now, and talk about probably the most misunderstood, yet rapidly rising musical styles available today. As excited as I am doing this, I’ll just divert it a little by dissecting the ones that make heavy music, whether as a solo effort (yes, this thing exists) or joining forces in a band. These talented individuals dedicated practically their whole life to master this craft of pure excitement. But with that being said, there are some “musicians” that piggyback themselves to the popularity of the genre and in turn, produce bad products with questionable quality.
When we take a deep look at what makes a metal musician, it has to be what motivates them to play in the first place. Many musicians today would still refer to Black Sabbath to some degree, as the English band is arguably the first ever Metal Band, remotely thanks to Toni Iommi’s down-tuned guitar sound as a coping mechanism to his fingertip injuries (when I say injuries, they are slashed). Other influences range from fellow Britons Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Venom, Motorhead and Saxon, each has their own distinct sound. Venom would be billed as the one who kick-started the Black Metal Movement thanks to their namesake album. Iron Maiden are often argued as the band that laid the ground to modern Power Metal sound, and Motorhead are referred as the ones that responsible to the rise of Thrash and Speed Metal, which in turn spawned genres like Death Metal, first popularized by Chuck Schuldiner, founder and vocalist/guitarist of the Florida band Death.
Musicians take pride of their influences. The recently passed Canadian drummer Neil Peart is the referred as a “hero” by ex-Dream Theater, current Winery Dogs and Sons of Apollo drummer Mike Portnoy. Keith Moon of The Who is also a major influence by many metal drummers, like former Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. The four-stringed section of the band is also full of talented and influential musicians, names like Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris, Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler, Motorhead’s Lemmy, Slayer’s Tom Araya, Billy Sheehan of Mr. Big and Sons of Apollo, etc. are only some of many bassists that laid their influences in the metal work today. And we can’t really talk about metal without mentioning the most important element of the music itself, the guitar. Metalheads and metal musicians would spend eternity naming their most favorite and influential metal guitarists. There are massive amount of guitarists either currently active or already retired, from household names like Toni Iommi (of course you have to include the man here), Kirk Hammett, Kerry King, late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, Dave Mustaine, and Zakk Wylde to emerging youngsters like Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold, Marco Coti Zelati of Lacuna Coil and Eluveitie’s Jonas Wolf. As far as the vocal side of things, there are many iconic frontmen in metal history, with names like Ozzy Osbourne, Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford, James Hetfield, and Ronnie James Dio.
Referring to the fact that metal is one of the hardest musical genre to master, the musicians themselves are expected to evolve and perfecting their craft over the years, most commonly taking on a side project beside their main bands. German vocalists Hansi Kursch and Tobias Sammett are the prime example of this, with Kursch currently working in both his main band Blind Guardian and a collaboration effort with American guitarist Jon Schaeffer named Demons & Wizards, while Sammett focusing on either Edguy or his metal opera project Avantasia, in which Kursch himself lend his vocals to sing in two of the songs of the 2019 release Moonglow by the band. Sammett’s ability as a vocalist is often compared to Bruce Dickinson, due to similarities on tone and delivery. While Kursch has a habit of overdubbing his own voice to the point of actually create a perfect choir, implying that he is heavily influenced by English Rock band Queen. Other vocalists are known for their versatility, like Nightwish main woman and Dutch native Floor Jansen. She is known both as a powerful vocalist and a vocal coach herself. Other techniques like growling and screaming are also requires technicality in such a way to preserve the vocal chords. Vocalists that are known for these techniques are Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg, Cannibal Corpse’s George Fisher, and Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach, to name a few. It seems like forming a super group is a thing commonly associated with metal musicians who wanted to spread their wings in the scene. The most recent example of this is Sons of Apollo, currently consisting of ex-Dream Theater members Portnoy and Derek Sherinian as drummer and keyboardist respectively, bassist Billy Sheehan, guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto. The band is looking to release their second album MMXX in the beginning of the year. When it comes to musical ability, these guys are not to be underestimated either. Sheehan is known to be a shredder type bassist, always loves to bust out tasty bass lines, grooves and even solos, and also known user of three-finger picking technique. Sherinian is a type of keyboardist that mainly thinks like a guitarist, with most of his gears are run through guitar amplifiers. But when it comes to complex musicianship, every metalhead you know would probably give one simple and similar answer: Tool. This Progressive Metal band that once pissed an entire fanbase off is known for their odd time signatures and deep lyrics. Drummer Danny Carey is known for his polyrhythmic playing behind the drums, bassist Justin Chancelor is known for his complex bass lines, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan, who is known as an eccentric character on and off stage.
Aside for it’s technicality, many bands are praised for bringing another element to the heavy tunes of metal. Rapper Ice-T formed the band Body Count initially as a media for his friend and guitarist Ernie C to play Rock music. The way Body Count play their metal is to fuse the metal element and Ice-T’s rap, with lyrics tackling on social issues like racism and Police Brutality. New Zealand upstarts Alien Weaponry went even further, by incorporating the Maori culture, including the Te Reo language into their Thrash Metal music with the release of 2018 debut effort Tu.
Aside from those who are talented in their own right, there are those who are also musicians, but not as talented per se, instead became a laughingstock of the metal world. Metalheads often argue that metal should be miles away from any other elements of the genre. It means originality, integrity, work ethic, and dedication. With more bands emerging from the underground scene, there are slew of bands that not only are criticized, but also ridiculed. The most known example is the Experimental Metalcore band Design The Skyline, hailing from Corpus Christy, TX. They were formed in 2010 as a 7-piece band, and signed by Victory Records in the wake of their debut demo Surrounded By Silencein 2011. They are viewed as “the worst thing ever coming out from the metal scene”, with severely auto-tuned clean vocals and chaotic composition (in a bad way, when I listen to the song out of curiosity, I was amused by how messy the mix and the composition are). Their appearance reminded me a little bit to the “Scene Subculture” in 2004-2005, with emo influenced colorful hair, colorful wardrobes and skin tight pants. It seems like auto-tune become the common enemy, as this piece of equipment can be used to justify someone who has terrible singing voice. Another band loathed by the metal scene is Toronto native Abandon All Ships, where they released the single Take One Last Breath from their 2010 album Geeving. This song gathered hate and loads of criticism due to clean vocalist/bassist Martin Broda’s heavily auto-tuned singing. This band effectively makes Nickelback like the most musically talented band ever (I said that out of sarcasm though, many people still hate them to some extend). Asking Alexandria also came under fire for the “auto-tune” issues surrounding current vocalist Danny Worsnop. These bands are also criticized for their heavy use of screaming vocals, similar song patterns like double kick bass drumming and guitar breakdowns, and also profane-filled lyrics. Plagiarism is also a thing of taboo amongst all metalheads. Last year the band Flaw are accused of plagiarism by several Metal YouTubers for stealing guitar riffs. Once the case surfaced and dealt with, the band decided to fire the guitarist, who accidentally slipped a confession regarding the case. The situation worsens when he issued an alleged “half-assed” apology online. Since the case, he has retired.
These musicians are deserved the praise that they are given as they are, with years of dedication and hard work making them what they are today. They are influenced by many musicians before them, and will influence future musicians of the next generation. Just make sure you don’t cheat your way to fame by using auto-tune or time-aligned instruments along the way, you might get your backsides kicked because of it. And In the closing, I am writing this as a fan who admires the work that these guys and girls are putting out for Heavy Metal, and I am proud to be a fan because of them.
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